One Man Against the Flood

Zhao Cheng alone charged into the torrent of the enemy army, plunging deep into their formation; he stood as a lone bulwark, holding back the relentless tide of surging foes!

The enemy swarmed him, surrounding him tightly as countless blades rained down upon his body!

Blood streamed down his entire frame, yet he fought on without retreat, his bronze sword swinging so fast it left afterimages, lopping off head after head—he even shattered the enemy's weapons with his own blade!

His armor was already shattered and cracked!

His longsword was already notched and warped!

Yet he fought to the death, refusing to yield!

What chilled Feng Quan and the others even more was seeing how the enemy's blades were constantly biting into Zhao Cheng's flesh!

No wonder the garrison forces seemed to dwindle the more they fought; the bastard was holding them all back by himself!

He was a hell of a fierce warrior, holding off hundreds of men single-handedly, taking so many wounds, yet still refusing to fall!

"Damn your mothers! Squad Leader!!"

Feng Quan's eyes turned bloodshot as he charged in regardless of the danger, hacking wildly, "Get out of the way! Get the hell out of the way!!"

"Bastards!"

The rest of the Assault Cavalry Elite were stunned by the sight, their eyes turning red as they went berserk!

"Kill!! Kill these dog bastards! Get our squad leader out of there!!!"

The Han Army had already been terrified by Zhao Cheng, and now that the Qin elites had gone mad, their combat power practically doubled!

They were actually forced back in an instant!

As Zhao Cheng fought, he suddenly noticed Feng Quan appearing at his side!

Then came Du Ren!

And Feng Ruo!

One by one, comrades whose names he knew and those he didn't fought their way to his side, struggling forward alongside him, and his heart surged with a burning heat!

Are these the comrades-in-arms who face death together?

But damn it, I can't die, yet you lot are really going to die!

He grabbed Feng Quan, who had charged too deep and was nearly hacked to death, and pulled him back, then threw his own body into the gap!

"I said I am the vanguard! Get behind me and follow my charge!"

Zhao Cheng's voice roared like a tiger!

He cut into the formation like a sword blade; the previously chaotic formation instantly gained discipline, and the elites followed closely behind Zhao Cheng, charging forward like an awl piercing the enemy ranks!

Only in that moment did they truly feel the pressure Zhao Cheng had been bearing.

The feeling of being surrounded on all sides was not pleasant.

Even for men like them, seasoned in a hundred battles, they suffered significant wounds in the blink of an eye!

It was hard to imagine how much pressure that young man acting as the vanguard had endured, or how many wounds covered his body!

Yet he remained like a pillar in a torrent, standing tall and pushing forward!

They slaughtered the Han Army layer by layer, but the hundreds of garrison troops, enough to fill the ramparts of Fang City, kept charging in waves, as if they were endless!

Kill one, and another took his place!

The blades in front fell, and the blades behind were thrust forward once more.

Zhao Cheng's sword was already notched, resembling a club, but every strike still shattered skulls, crushed necks, or collapsed ribcages!

He could clearly feel that he was no longer facing the strength of a single man, but the power of a military formation, surging like a relentless, unending flood.

If each of these soldiers had the strength of five shi, then five men combined equaled twenty-five shi!

And there were far more than five; as the vanguard, he had to face seven or eight men or more at once, not to mention the reinforcements constantly pushing from behind!

Force met force, blade stacked upon blade!

His stamina was draining rapidly; had he not undergone that prior breakthrough, he would have died several times over by now!

Fortunately, his comrades were by his side, though the situation was grim; there were more enemies than imagined, likely over a thousand including reinforcements, and their own formation was shrinking as the enemy prepared to complete the encirclement!

He could fight his way out before his strength failed, but what about these comrades?

Zhao Cheng gritted his teeth and grabbed the head of a half-dead enemy who had lunged to wrap around his waist and restrict his movement, driving his knee upward and forcing the man's nose into his own brain.

Then, with a violent heave, he threw the body, knocking down a swathe of the garrison, before turning to support Du Ren, kicking an enemy soldier who was stabbing at Du Ren off the wall, taking three more down with him!

But soon, new Han soldiers surged up, and the formation tightened once more.

In his peripheral vision, Zhao Cheng saw an Assault Cavalry Elite with a sword through his chest, blood pouring out as he grabbed three enemies and dragged them off the wall with him!

He gritted his teeth and erupted, pushing forward with all his might, killing and kicking, using the corpses of the enemy as stones to hurl at the enemy ranks, delaying their assault.

The Han Army's momentum slowed slightly, and at the same time, Zhao Cheng heard the roar of the Han commander from deep within the enemy ranks, "Kill the enemy vanguard! A reward of a thousand gold, a promotion of three ranks, and a grant of a thousand mu of land!"

"Kill one enemy, reward of ten gold!"

"Take one step back, and your entire family will be executed!"

"He is at the end of his rope, kill him!"

The Han Army went mad as well; a massive number of men desperately charged toward Zhao Cheng, while the rest stopped retreating, reforming the encirclement!

"Hahaha, come on then!!"

Zhao Cheng laughed wildly, his expression hideously savage as he lunged into the enemy ranks once more like a fierce tiger!

"Damn it all!!" The centurion below, who was directing the archers to provide cover, watched that blood-soaked figure cutting through the ranks like a blade and gritted his teeth, shouting, "The vanguard has already scaled the Southern Foothills of Fang City! Let's charge up and support our brothers!"

"Follow me, everyone!!"

At a time like this, who cared about the damn risks? Even if they died, they couldn't just stand by and watch from below!

The group of sixty men climbed up rapidly, rushing forward behind Zhao Cheng's unit. They broke through the enemy's encirclement, forming a powerful new force that quickly relieved their exhausted comrades, shielding them so they could catch their breath.

Zhao Cheng had already gone through three blades by now. His breathing was ragged, yet his body, tough as iron and sinew, remained as straight as a spear. He swung his sword, swung it again, and swung it once more, never tiring.

Kill—there was only killing!

More elite cavalrymen arrived from below the wall one after another, climbing onto the ramparts in silence to dive into the fray and replace their fallen brothers...

At the Fang City Pass.

The Han commander Han Ming watched from afar as the Qin State forces pressed toward Ye County. After much deliberation, he finally dispatched troops. Two thousand light infantry marched north, but they hadn't gone far before changing direction. Instead of supporting Ye County, they moved at a forced march, heading straight for the dense forest on the west side of the River Valley.

On the west side of the River Valley, Meng Tian led over a thousand light cavalry in a continuous pursuit. Along the way, he saw many headless corpses of enemy scouts—entire squads wiped out in an instant. He recognized the handiwork at a glance and couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

"Brother Cheng is truly valiant!"

"Pick up the pace! Prepare to support the vanguard and launch a forced assault on the walls."

Just then, rustling sounds suddenly erupted from the woods on both sides!

A moment later, arrows fell like rain, and men immediately tumbled from their horses!

"It's an ambush!"

"Counterattack!"

Though startled, Meng Tian remained composed, calmly directing his thousand light cavalry to respond, yet his heart sank lower and lower.

If the enemy had ambushed them here, didn't that mean they had already guessed their plan to launch a surprise attack on the Southern Foothills?

This is bad—Zhao Cheng is likely walking into an ambush!

Brother, please, you must not scale the wall!

Meng Tian steadily directed his cavalry to break out. Just then, two thousand more cavalrymen charged in from the rear. Meng Tian was startled, only to realize they were reinforcements!

His eyes lit up, and he laughed, "It's Father's contingency! This is perfect—we've turned the tables and surrounded them!"

The reinforcements quickly closed in, encircling the panicked Han Army soldiers who were trying to flee.

A captain stepped forward to Meng Tian, "The General orders you to continue your raid on the Southern Foothills as a feint. Once we finish this battle, we will head straight for the north side of Fang City. If the enemy has set an ambush at the south, their northern defenses must be thin. If they haven't, your feint will force them to divert troops, allowing me to break through the north and coordinate with the main force to take the pass!"

"Meng Tian acknowledges the order!"

After receiving the command, Meng Tian's face filled with anxiety, and he spurred his horse forward without a moment's delay, leading his men straight toward the Southern Foothills.

His eyes were full of worry.

At the Southern Foothills of Fang City, blood trickled down the walls, and the air was thick with the stench of carnage.

Over a hundred elite cavalrymen, with Zhao Cheng as their spearhead, stood like an unshakeable pillar in a raging flood, fighting to the death without retreating.

Every single moment, men were dying.

Life and death hung by a thread in every corner.

Until, in the distance, the sound of hooves thundered like rolling drums.

A thousand light cavalry charged straight toward the foot of the wall!

Meng Tian led the thousand riders in a rapid approach. He was wounded and his face was etched with anxiety. He already knew that since the enemy had set an ambush in advance, they must have also laid one at the Southern Foothills. He feared that Zhao Cheng, driven by the promise of being the first to scale the wall, would launch a reckless assault!

As they neared the Southern Foothills and looked from afar, his heart turned cold—they really were attacking the wall!

The ramparts of Fang City were packed solid with Han Army soldiers—there were far more than a thousand of them!

Below the wall, the enemy kept pouring in; they had ambushed over a thousand men here!

And Zhao Cheng had only brought two hundred elite cavalry!

It's over!

However, as they drew closer to the Southern Foothills, Meng Tian's expression shifted from regret to shock!

He saw that the flood-like tide of the Han Army was actually being held back by a small military formation. Amidst the sea of countless Han soldiers, that small unit appeared so tiny, yet so indestructible.

At the vanguard of that Qin State formation, a blood-drenched figure was unstoppable. Far from retreating, he was actually pushing forward against the countless Han soldiers, holding off the bulk of the offensive single-handedly!

He had carved out a foothold at the Southern Foothills, creating a zone where they could scale the wall!

Meng Tian's mouth hung agape, his entire body trembling uncontrollably, his voice shaking.

"A God of War!?"

His eyes lit up with brilliance, his spirit soaring as he whipped his horse into a frenzy, leading over a thousand Flying Cavalry in a rapid charge toward the city walls, then swiftly scaling them by way of the sector Zhao Cheng had already secured.

Large waves of Qin State elites poured into the fray, immediately forcing the Han Army into a steady retreat.

The pressure on Zhao Cheng and his men eased, and as they let Meng Tian's forces take over the battlefield, many of the elite cavalrymen collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, feeling as though they had crawled back from the gates of hell yet again.

Many laughed heartily, while others looked at the corpses of their comrades and felt their eyes grow red with silent grief.

Zhao Cheng remained standing as straight as a pine, blood dripping down his tattered armor, his gaze sweeping across the field with a murderous aura so intense it felt almost tangible.

"Feng Quan!"

"This subordinate is here!" Feng Quan stood up, limping.

Zhao Cheng said, "Compile a list of our fallen brothers and bring their names to me."

A warmth surged in Feng Quan's heart as he replied, "Rest assured, my Lord. Our Qin State will never mistreat the families of our fallen martyrs! There will be officials to..."

Zhao Cheng cut him off resolutely, "How the government handles compensation is their business; just bring the names to me."

"As long as I draw breath, their parents, brothers, wives, and children shall never suffer bullying. I will protect them all myself."

The men watched this blood-drenched youth standing like a pine, a torrent of emotion surging in their eyes.

They had followed this youth into the slaughter, yet it was his protection that had allowed them to survive until now.

More than once, they had seen enemy forces charging toward them while they were too exhausted to fight back, only for that figure to stand at the very front with his own bloodied body, bearing the pressure for them and buying them the chance to catch their breath and reclaim their lives.

Such a fierce warrior, should he not perish, would surely be enfeoffed as a marquis or appointed a general in the future.

With such a sense of responsibility, could his promise to protect them be anything but the truth?

Feng Quan wanted to smile, but he couldn't; he could only lower his head and bow deeply, hiding his reddened eyes. "Yes, my Lord."

"After today, I, Feng Quan, am willing to follow you with my life and shall never betray you!"

Many of the men stood up despite their wounds, saying nothing, but they stood behind Feng Quan and bowed deeply to Zhao Cheng just as he had.

A strong wind whipped up the scent of blood, sweeping across the Southern Foothills of Fang City, where hundreds of blood-soaked, hardened men stood in silence, bowed in respect, and remained there for a long time.